Just hear me out, alright.
Our fearless leader Paul Hudrick wrote earlier this week about the Sixers’ best path to title contention. Most are definitely taking a wait-and-see approach to this season because
there is just a lot of figuring out still to do with this roster. As he points out though, it appears the Sixers have a Batman again in Tyrese Maxey — how do they go about finding his Robin?
The internal candidates he outlined are certainly the most realistic, but what if there was another Batman out there on the market? One the Sixers could put a competitive offer out for that could vault them into title contention, especially if Maxey is up to the task?
I am of course talking about Giannis Antetokounmpo, the MVP candidate who seems to have finally gotten his departure from the Milwaukee Bucks rolling last week before suffering a calf injury that will hold him out for a few weeks.
This is probably absurd thinking for a couple reasons. The Sixers are very much not Giannis’ preferred destination — by all indications that would be the New York Knicks, who are currently more equipped to compete for a title. The Sixers also can’t top the “godfather offers” of the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs or Atlanta Hawks.
When Giannis trade talks started swirling in the offseason, this was hardly a thought for Sixers fans. Mostly because the franchise’s most recent Batman, Joel Embiid, has not been reliably available enough at all to consider taking such a swing. Already missing a nine-game stretch with knee soreness this year, there’s been no reason to question that line of thinking.
Maxey’s leap to the production of a No. 1 guy might change the calculous on that. He’s third in the league in scoring, shooting a blinding 39.1% from three and 46.7% from the field overall. Given how things ended this may not be the best example, but his season averages are almost identical to Damian Lillard’s last season in Portland before the Bucks acquired him to pair with Antetokounmpo.
I think this is all worth bringing up because I think the Sixers could put together an enticing package for Antetekounmpo, one certainly better than anything his desired team, the Knicks, can put together. The problem of the Giannis-Lillard duo was not due to their production, but due to the team’s inability to build a solid supporting cast around them.
It would be a huge risk as the package I’m talking about would send both Jared McCain and VJ Edgecombe to Milwaukee. The inclusion of Edgecombe might already be a non-starter for the Sixers’ front office. He was highly coveted for this team at the No. 3 overall pick and every quote and action by the organization has only backed up their belief in him.
Also unlike the Knicks, the Sixers possess some intriguing future picks, including the Clippers’ 2028 unprotected first-rounder and a potential 2029 pick swap with LA (top-four protected). They still owe the Oklahoma City Thunder and Brooklyn Nets picks, but have multiple first-rounders of their own able to be moved.
The deal I’ve cooked up sends McCain, Edgecombe and Paul George to fill salary in a three-for-one deal for Antetokounmpo. According to FanSpo’s trade machine, that would give the Sixers about $14 million dollars to fill out the rest of the roster before hitting the first apron and $26 million before hitting the second.
There could be plenty of holdouts in just getting that done of course. The Bucks might also want to throw in a contract they want to get off of like Bobby Portis. They might still balk at taking George’s contract back even with the inclusion of both young guards in the deal.
If a deal is there though, is there enough wiggle room for the Sixers to create a better support system around Giannis and a star guard? Is the supporting cast of Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre Jr., Dominick Barlow, Trendon Watford and co. better than what Giannis’ supporting cast in Milwaukee? It’s certainly debatable.
There’s still the Embiid wild card to consider. The combo of him, Antetekoumnpo and Maxey all on the court could truly be an unstoppable offensive force, but of course there’s no guarantee of those three playing together for a consistent basis. Would it be that hard to see them getting far in this particular Eastern Conference?
There’s also no guarantee of Giannis and Embiid fitting seamlessly with both needing to dominate the paint. With the league trending further and further towards the importance of depth, it’d make an expensive Sixers’ roster even riskier. In a perfect world, they’d only have Maxey and these young pieces, no giant, old contracts tethering down every decision they make.
Even in this imperfect situation though, not only do I believe the ascension of Maxey makes the question worth asking, but if they do, they could beat out potential packages made by more serious suitors.
